Device for carrying bombs and other heavy bodies on and releasing them from aircraft



June 13; 1933. J. FRITCSON El AL ,708

DEVICE FOR CARRYING BOMBS AND OTHER HEAVY BODIES ON 1 AND RELEASING THEMFROM AIRCRAFT Filed June 15, 1931 G3 a E MDWIMM Patented June 13,1933

UNITED STATES PATENT ornce JURIS FRITGSON AND ARNOLD VIKSNE, OF RIG-ALATVIA DEVICE FOR CARRYING BOMBS AND OTHER HEAVY BODIES ON AND RELEASINGTHEM FROM AIRCRAFT Application filed June 15,

This invention relates to a device for carrying bombs and other heavybodies on and releasing them from aircraft, the said device comprising amember which has a hook for 5 supporting the bomb and which is held inits retaining position by a projection which, when moved into itsreleasing position, allows the hook member to move so as to release thebomb.

According to the present invention the aforesaid hook member isconnected by a link to a pivoted member with which the aforesaidprojection co-operates and the parts are so constructed and arrangedthat normally (i. e. when the hook member is supporting the bomb) thelink and the pivoted member are nearly on the dead centre position sothat little or none of the weight of the bomb is exerted on the saidprojection. This projection can be moved mechanically to its releasingposition but it is preferably moved by means of an electro-magneticdevice having two armatures one of which normally locks the other (whichmoves the said pro.- jection) against the releasing movement.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into eflect, the same will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawing, in which z- Figure 1 is a sideelevation showing more or less diagrammatically a form of deviceaccording to this invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1 show-- ing also one way of'releasingthe projection, I Figure 3 is a view showing the preferred way of movingthe projection by means of an electro-magnetic device, and

Figure 4 is a diagram of the preferred electrical circuits relating toseveral bomb releasing devices.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, A is the hook of the hook member B whichis pivoted at C j to a suitable frame, the said hook supporting thesling or loop A of the bomb. The upper end of this member has one end ofa link D pivoted thereto at (Z, the other end of this link eing pivotedat d to a sector-shaped lever- E (or a lever of other suitable form)pivoted at e to the frame. F is the projection which 1931. Serial No.544,430.

normally engages with one face of the lever E as shown. If the partsdescribed are arranged in such relative positions that a horizontalplane containing the axes of the pivots .e and al also contains the axisof the pivot e (i. e. the parts D and E are on the dead centreposition), it will be clear that the weight of the bomb on the hook Acannot turn the hook member B. However by displacing the pivot d in thedirection of the arrow drawn above this pivot it is possible to find thepoint be yond which the turning force (due to the weight of the bomb)acting upon the lever E is no longer balanced by the friction at thepivots of the various parts. It is at approximately this point that theparts are set by means of the projection F and another projection Gengaging with the upper surface of the lever E. The parts D and E arethen somewhat out of the dead centre position. If now the projection Fis moved into its releasing position, the weight of the bomb on the hookA will effect a displacement of the parts and the release of the bomb.If desired a spring may be provided acting to move the pivot 03downwards; in this case the parts D and E can be arranged closer to thedead centre position and the force exerted by the lever E on theprojection F will be a .constant quantity not dependent on the weight ofthe bomb. If a bomb of such light weight is to be used that it cannotovercome the friction of the parts by its weight, a spring J acting onthe member B may be provided. If desired the springs H and J may bereplaced by a single spring acting between the parts B and D. If thehook A is intended to carry very heavy bombs it may be given a suitableshape with a view to reducing the stresses in the parts of the device.This is attained by constructing the hook so that the centre of the bombsling or loop A can be placed at a small distance horizontally from avertical plane containing the axis of the pivot C. The vertical distancefrom the sustaining portion of the hook A to a horizontal plane.containing the axis of the pivot C is made sufficient to enable the hookmember B when slightly turned on its pivot C to move awaysufliciently-to release the sling or 100 A.

he aforesaid projection F may be carried on a pivoted lever K (Figure 2)controlled by a spring k. This lever may be moved mechanically by theoperator when the bomb is required to be dropped or it may be moved bymeans of an electro-magnet L the enerthe arrangement shown in Figure 3is employed. In this figure the armature K of the lever K which carriesthe projection F is associated with two electro-magnets L, L which alsohave another armature M controlled by a spring mwhich is weaker than thespring lc-controlling the lever K so that the armature M is attractedbefore'thearmature K. The armature M has a transverse arm M formed witha notch or recessm to form a shoulder against which the upper, end ofthe armature K normally bears so that in the-normal condition of theparts (i. e. before the energizing current of the electro-magnets L, Lis switched on) the lever K is prevented from moving in a direction torelease the bomb. This electro-magnetic device forms the subject of aconcurrent patent application in the name of Juris Fritcson andthe/operation is fully described in the specification accompanying thatapplication.

We may introduce into the electrical circuit containing the energizingcoils of the electro-magnetic device a contact operatedby any of themoving parts of the bomb releasedevice so as tocut offthe energizingcurrent when the bomb is being released, as well as an indicator whichindicates that the bomb has been dropped. The electric circuits forseveral bomb releasing devices are shown in Figure 4 in which L, L, Lrepresent the electaro-magnets, N, N, N'represent the aforesaid contactswhich cut ofi the current on release the source of current. The switch Qnot only serves as a safety device which-prevents any of the bombs frombeing dropped by accidental movement .of any of the switches P into thebomb releasing position, but also I 1 serves as a master switch so thatafter any one or more of the switches P have been brought into operationthe switch Q can be operated to release all the selected bombs.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is 1. In a device for carrying bombs and other heavy bodies onand releasing them from aircraft, the combination with a hook supportfor the body necting the first two members together, and a retainingmember for co-operating with said pivoted member and releasable to allowsaid hook member to move and drop the body, of an electro-magnet theenergizing current of which is under the control of the operator, anarmature appertaining to said electromagnet a lever carrying saidarmature and the retaining member, a second armature appertaining tosaid electro-magnet, said second armature moving towards the magnetbefore the first armature when the energizing current is switched on,and means whereby said second armature normally prevents movement of thefirst armature under the influence of shocks to release the hook member.

2. For use with a device for carrying bombs and other heavy bodies onand releasing them from aircraft, the combination with the elementsclaimed in claim 1, of a hand-operated switch, an indicator and acontact in the circuit containing the coil of the electro-magnet, saidcontact breaking said circuit when the bomb or other heavy body isreleased.

3. For use with the device for carrying bombs and other heavy bodies onand releasing them from'airc'raft, the combination wlth the elementsclaimed in claim 1, of a handoperated switch, an indicator and a contactin the circuit containing the coil of the electro-magnet, said contactbreaking said circuit when the bomb or other heavy body is released. p

4. For use with a device for carrying bombs and other heavy bodies onand releasing them from aircraft, the combination with a plurality ofthe elements claimed in claim 1 of a switch which controls thesupply ofthe electric current to the various circuits.

5. For use with a device for carrying bombs and other heavy bodies onand releasing them from aircraft, the combination with a plurality ofthe elements claimed in claim 1, of a switch which controls the supplyof the electric current to the various circuits.

6. In a device for carrying and releasing bombs from aircraft andincluding a hook member, a pivoted member, a link connecting same, saidlink normally extending substantially horizontally between the end of.

the pivoted member and the end of the hook member, said link and pivotedmember being normally arranged near dead center position, and aretaining member for co-operatmg with said pivoted member and movableinto releasing position to allow said hook member to move to drop thebody, interlocking armaa pivoted member, a link contures operativelyconnected with the release hook-member and its associated toggle links,and a single electro-magnetic device, and including two electro-magnetsconnected in series, for operating said armatures to release saidhook-member.

JURIS FRITCSON. ARNOLD VIKSNE.

